Pre-filing for the 86th regular session of the Texas Legislature began yesterday with a new, improved mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.

A very strong group of bills raising wages, strengthening pensions and other workplace benefits, expanding health care and improving access to higher education were filed. Add to that several measures addressing the problem of sexual harassment.

The infamous Pittsburgh synagogue massacre that killed 11 Jewish worshipers celebrating the Sabbath and the formal naming of a baby was an attack on all of us. The shooting took place literally in Mr. Rogers's neighborhood, aimed in pure hate at a community observing the Sabbath and engaged in prayer.

Like the mass murders at the First Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the gunman sought to undermine the freedom of religion that defines our nation.

Cruz tried to associate himself with "bonuses and pay raises" at "American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, AT&T" following passage of an atrocious tax bill. This rightly inflamed union members who noted the unionized status of all three of the companies cited by Cruz. Labor unions led the way in insisting that those companies share a piece of their bounty from the tax bill with working families.

Activists for paid sick leave in San Antonio, including representatives of organized labor, have filed more than twice the number of signatures needed to place the measure on the November ballot, the Texas Observer reports.

The Guardian obtained an anti-union toolkit already being used by the billionaire-backed anti-union apparatus ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court's looming decision in the Janus case, which could lead to so-called "right to work" for public-sector workers across the U.S.